Cyber Security Social Engineering - Hacking Human Firewalls from Udemy

Hacking people is the most effective hacking technique, has the highest success rate and is very difficult to detect and prevent against. Learn how to hack the human firewall and how to protect yourself and your organization against so called social engineering attacks where people get manipulated to do things they usually would not do and companies get way too easy hacked with the support of their own employees without them noticing.

This course is for non-IT people/absolute beginners up to cyber security professionals that want to get into social engineering.

Your teacher has over 18 years experience including a bachelor and master in Cyber Security and was within various expert and head of positions in the security government area, large international consulting and the banking industry.

Course Overview (around 3.5 hours of valuable content)

What is social engineering and how does it work
The human risk factor
Sensitive vs. non-sensitive information
Hacking into your e-mails, icloud and fotos with very little effort and information
How to protect against password reset attacks
Why social engineering is so dangerous
Types of Social Engineering (Phishing, Smishing, Whaling, Vishing, Impersonation, Dumpster Diving, Baiting, Tailgating)
How to prevent all those Social Engineering attacks
Social Engineering Framework and how to plan and perform a social engineering attack (Open Source Intelligence, Built Your Story, Attack Plan, Attack, Documentation)
(BONUS) Real life Social Engineering Scenarios and how to protect against them

What you can expect from this course:

Sharing long time experience in this area
Lots of practical and real life examples instead of just theoretical frameworks
A trainer that is motivated helping you to easily understand social engineering and protect yourself and your organization against these attacks
The content is shared in easy to understand language so that everyone (even non-IT people or absolute beginners) can learn social engineering and how to protect themselves
You´ll be provided the possibility to join a Cyber Security experts chat group and contact the instructor for questions

IMPORTANT: You will need to watch within lecture four a video on youtube as it shows you a practical social engineering attack that we will analyze and discuss in our course. This video cant be incorporated into the udemy plattform for legal / copyright reasons. Therefore you will need an active internet connection for this small part. The video only lasts 2 minutes.

What's inside

Learning objectives

Understand what cyber security social engineering is, how it works and how you can protect yourself and your organization against it
Learn how humans can easily be manipulated by a social engineer and how to identify and prevent such attacks

Learn with a lot of practical examples how hackers and fraudsters try to hack and how to detect and protect against them

Understand what cyber security social engineering is, how it works and how you can protect yourself and your organization against it
Learn how humans can easily be manipulated by a social engineer and how to identify and prevent such attacks
Learn with a lot of practical examples how hackers and fraudsters try to hack and how to detect and protect against them

Syllabus

Introduction

Introduction and Agenda

About me

Disclaimer

IMPORTANT: You need to watch a linked YouTube video to proceed with this course at this stage. I cant incorporate it into the course for legal reasons so please watch this video before continuing to the next lectures. Its very important to watch this 2 minute video as we will continuously analyze and explain it.

LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuYoMs6CLEw

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Read about what's good

what should give you pause

and possible dealbreakers

Explores social engineering from the perspective of both attacker and defender, which is useful for both IT professionals and those with limited technical backgrounds

Includes real-life social engineering scenarios, which helps learners understand the practical implications of the concepts discussed and how to apply them in real-world situations

Covers various types of social engineering attacks, such as phishing, smishing, and vishing, which are essential for anyone looking to understand the threat landscape

Requires learners to watch a video on YouTube, which may pose a barrier to some learners who may not have access to the platform or who may be concerned about external links

Teaches how to protect against password reset attacks, which is a common and effective social engineering technique that can compromise personal and organizational security

Examines the social engineering framework, including open source intelligence, story building, and attack planning, which are core skills for security professionals

Reviews summary

Social engineering: hacking the human element

According to learners, this course provides a solid introduction to social engineering, focusing on the human element in cyber security. Students particularly appreciate the practical and real-life examples provided by the instructor, who is noted for having extensive experience and presenting concepts in an easy-to-understand language. While it is considered excellent for beginners and non-IT individuals looking to grasp the fundamentals of manipulating human behavior and protecting against such attacks, some more experienced learners find it too basic and wish for greater depth on advanced techniques or more technical details. The course covers various types of social engineering attacks and prevention methods.

One lecture requires external link.

"You will need to watch within lecture four a video on youtube as it shows you a practical social engineering attack"

"Slight inconvenience having to watch the YouTube video externally, but understandable."

"The requirement to view an external video was noted in the syllabus and was brief."

Easy to understand for newcomers.

"easy to understand language so that everyone (even non-IT people or absolute beginners) can learn"

"A great starting point for someone completely new to social engineering."

"As a beginner, I found this course easy to follow and grasp the basics."

Instructor explains complex topics clearly.

"Trainer is motivated helping you to easily understand social engineering and protect yourself"

"The instructor's experience is evident and adds great value to the course."

"He explained complex topics clearly and made them accessible."

Uses useful real-life scenarios.

"Lots of practical and real life examples instead of just theoretical frameworks"

"The real life scenarios were particularly insightful and helped illustrate the concepts."

"I appreciate the focus on practical application rather than just theory."

Too basic for experienced learners.

"It provides a good overview, but lacks depth for professionals seeking advanced techniques."

"Was expecting more technical details or hands-on advanced examples."

"Too introductory; it covers the surface well but doesn't go deep enough for someone with prior knowledge."

Activities

Be better prepared before your course. Deepen your understanding during and after it. Supplement your coursework and achieve mastery of the topics covered in Cyber Security Social Engineering - Hacking Human Firewalls with these activities:

Review Common Phishing Tactics

Show steps

Familiarize yourself with common phishing tactics to better understand the vulnerabilities social engineers exploit. This will provide a solid foundation for recognizing and preventing attacks discussed in the course.

Browse courses on Phishing

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Research common phishing email examples.
Identify red flags in sample phishing emails.
Take a practice phishing quiz online.

Review 'Ghost in the Wires: My Adventures as the World's Most Wanted Hacker'

Show steps

Read this book to understand the real-world impact of social engineering from the perspective of a former hacker. This will provide valuable context for the course material.

View Ghost In The Wires: My Adventures as the... on Amazon

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Read the book and highlight key social engineering tactics.
Reflect on the vulnerabilities exploited by the hacker.
Consider how these vulnerabilities can be mitigated.

Review 'Social Engineering: The Art of Human Hacking'

Show steps

Read this book to gain a deeper understanding of the psychology and techniques used in social engineering attacks. This will enhance your ability to identify and defend against these threats.

View Human Hacking on Amazon

Show steps

Read the book cover to cover.
Take notes on key concepts and techniques.
Reflect on how these techniques apply to real-world scenarios.

Four other activities

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Show all seven activities

Practice Identifying Phishing Emails

Show steps

Regularly practice identifying phishing emails using online quizzes and simulations. This will sharpen your ability to detect subtle cues and avoid falling victim to attacks.

Show steps

Find online phishing email quizzes.
Take a quiz and analyze your results.
Repeat the quiz to improve your score.

Develop a Social Engineering Awareness Presentation

Show steps

Create a presentation or infographic to educate others about social engineering threats and prevention techniques. This will reinforce your knowledge and improve your communication skills.

Show steps

Research current social engineering threats.
Design a visually appealing presentation.
Practice delivering the presentation.

Simulate a Social Engineering Attack (Ethical)

Show steps

Plan and execute a simulated social engineering attack on a willing participant (with their full consent and knowledge) to understand the attacker's perspective. This will solidify your understanding of the attack framework and potential vulnerabilities.

Show steps

Obtain consent from a participant.
Plan the attack scenario and objectives.
Execute the attack and document the results.
Debrief with the participant and discuss lessons learned.

Volunteer to Conduct Security Awareness Training

Show steps

Volunteer to conduct security awareness training sessions for a local organization or community group. This will allow you to apply your knowledge and improve your communication skills.

Show steps

Identify a local organization in need of training.
Develop a training plan and materials.
Deliver the training session and gather feedback.

Career center

Learners who complete Cyber Security Social Engineering - Hacking Human Firewalls will develop knowledge and skills that may be useful to these careers:

Security Awareness Trainer

A Security Awareness Trainer educates employees on how to recognize and avoid social engineering attacks. This course on hacking human firewalls directly applies to this role, as trainers need to understand attacker techniques to effectively teach defensive strategies. The course covers various types of social engineering, such as phishing, smishing, and vishing, and explains how these methods are used to manipulate people. Understanding the social engineering framework, and learning how to plan an attack, can help a security awareness trainer to craft more realistic training scenarios. Understanding the human risk factor, and the content about sensitive versus non-sensitive information, can also help shape training programs.

See salaries and explore the career path for Security Awareness Trainer

Cybersecurity Analyst

A Cybersecurity Analyst identifies and mitigates security risks, including those stemming from social engineering. This course, designed to teach how to hack human firewalls, gives an analyst deep insight into how social engineering attacks work. A course like this one can help analysts by providing real life examples of how attacks are executed, alongside explanations of how to detect them. The course’s coverage of attack planning might also help an analyst understand attack motivations and trajectories. The course also addresses how to protect against various schemes, and emphasizes the human risk factor, which is often a key part of a cybersecurity analyst's job.

See salaries and explore the career path for Cybersecurity Analyst

Information Security Consultant

An Information Security Consultant advises organizations on how to protect their data and systems, including against social engineering. This course directly addresses the core elements of social engineering, offering a deep understanding of the methods used to manipulate people. This course provides a clear path to understanding attack vectors, which is crucial for any security consultant. The course goes on to teach how to develop a social engineering framework and how to prevent attacks, which directly translates to the consultant's role of hardening systems against threats. The consultant may also use knowledge from the course to develop secure policies and best practices.

See salaries and explore the career path for Information Security Consultant

Security Operations Center Analyst

A Security Operations Center Analyst monitors network activity, and responds to security incidents, including those resulting from social engineering. This course is particularly helpful because it gives the analyst insight into the attacker's perspective, teaching how people are hacked, and what attack vectors to look for. The course details how to identify and prevent phishing, smishing, vishing, and impersonation, all of which may be seen by analysts reviewing system logs. The analyst can also leverage the course's focus on social engineering frameworks and open source intelligence to better identify and respond to breaches.

See salaries and explore the career path for Security Operations Center Analyst

Penetration Tester

A Penetration Tester attempts to find vulnerabilities in a system, organization, or network, often using social engineering techniques. This course directly prepares someone for this role by introducing methodologies used by real attackers. The course covers how to plan a social engineering attack and how to build a convincing story, which are all skills important to penetration testing. The course also provides critical information about social engineering techniques and tactics, which can be employed by the penetration tester. This course will also assist in the documentation of attacks, which is also needed in penetration testing.

See salaries and explore the career path for Penetration Tester

Risk Analyst

A Risk Analyst assesses potential threats to an organization, including vulnerabilities resulting from social engineering. This course will teach how social engineering works, which will help the risk analyst to understand and evaluate this as a risk factor. The course's exploration of attack methods, and social engineering frameworks, provides a risk analyst with a view of how threat actors can compromise human firewalls. By detailing real-life scenarios and explaining how to prevent attacks, this course gives the risk analyst a grounded understanding of the kinds of risks that need to be mitigated.

See salaries and explore the career path for Risk Analyst

Security Architect

A Security Architect designs and implements security systems, so they need to understand a full range of threats, including social engineering. This course, focusing on how humans are hacked, provides essential insights into a critical component of an organization's security. This course teaches how to plan, perform, and document a social engineering attack, which will help architects understand attack vectors. The focus on preventing various types of attacks, and learning about real life social engineering scenarios, can inform the architect's design of security protocols. By understanding the human element of security, the architect can design better overall systems.

See salaries and explore the career path for Security Architect

Compliance Officer

A Compliance Officer ensures an organization adheres to regulatory requirements, and information security is necessarily a focus. This course on manipulating human firewalls helps a compliance officer understand how these attacks can violate data protection laws. The course details the types of social engineering attacks, and how they can be combined with technical methods like keyloggers. The understanding of attack methods, frameworks, and real life scenarios can help the compliance officer to develop and enforce policies designed to protect an organization and its data.

See salaries and explore the career path for Compliance Officer

Fraud Investigator

A Fraud Investigator examines potentially fraudulent activities, including those achieved through social engineering. This course, focused on how to hack a human firewall, can provide vital insight into the minds of criminals. The course teaches how to perform an attack, how to build a story, and how to use methods like phishing, smishing, and vishing. This understanding of the attacker's perspective helps the investigator understand how the fraud was perpetrated, and what steps can be taken to prevent repeat attacks. The course also covers real-life scenarios, which helps when evaluating a potential fraud event.

See salaries and explore the career path for Fraud Investigator

Security Consultant

A Security Consultant provides expert advice on security to clients, which may include guiding them on the threats of social engineering. This course directly relates to the work of a security consultant, as it teaches how attackers manipulate people. The consultant can utilize the knowledge of various social engineering attacks, and their prevention, to advise on best practices. The social engineering framework in the course can help the consultant create and evaluate security plans, and the real-life scenarios can help explain vulnerabilities to clients. The consultant can use this course to develop a deeper expertise on the human factors involved in security.

See salaries and explore the career path for Security Consultant

Corporate Trainer

A Corporate Trainer develops and delivers training programs to employees, and may need to include information on cybersecurity awareness. This course may help a trainer to understand the methods and techniques used by social engineers, helping them to deliver more accurate, engaging, and relevant material. The course covers a wide range of social engineering attack types, and how they work. The trainer may use the course's real-life scenarios to make their training content more relatable. The course may also supply a trainer with frameworks and ideas for how to plan and deliver engaging workshops.

See salaries and explore the career path for Corporate Trainer

Human Resources Specialist

A Human Resources Specialist is often the target of social engineering attacks and may be manipulated to give up private data. This course can help a human resources specialist understand their own role as a point of weakness, and how to better protect themselves. The course covers how attackers use impersonation, and how they gather information from public sources. This will give the HR specialist a view of how they may be targeted, and provide ideas about how to prevent social engineering attacks. The course also emphasizes how to protect against phishing and similar attacks, which may be relevant to HR's work.

See salaries and explore the career path for Human Resources Specialist

IT Support Specialist

An IT Support Specialist provides tech support, and may frequently handle requests that are actually social engineering attacks in disguise. This course may help the IT support specialist to identify and mitigate these kinds of attacks. The course provides detailed descriptions of different kinds of social engineering, including vishing, phishing, and impersonation. The course gives a close look at real life scenarios, and also details how attacks can be executed and planned, which may help an IT support specialist recognize attacks in their daily workflow. This can lead to greater awareness, and may lead to more secure practices when providing tech support.

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Project Manager

A Project Manager is responsible for the success of projects, and may need to include security practices in project plans. This course may help improve their understanding of social engineering techniques through a comprehensive overview. The course discusses how to plan and execute a social engineering attack, and how to recognize different kinds of attacks. Learning about the human risk factor, and attack planning, may help the project manager understand some common vulnerabilities. This understanding may contribute to improved project design, and improved security awareness among project stakeholders.

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Software Developer

A Software Developer creates software applications, and may need to understand the range of security threats. This course may help a software developer better understand the human element of security by providing an overview of different attack types. The course provides a summary of several ways of attacking humans using social engineering, including phishing, vishing, and impersonation. Learning more about the human element of security may be useful to the developer in some circumstances. By understanding the potential weaknesses caused by human error, a software developer may consider these in their work.

See salaries and explore the career path for Software Developer

Reading list

We've selected two books that we think will supplement your learning. Use these to develop background knowledge, enrich your coursework, and gain a deeper understanding of the topics covered in Cyber Security Social Engineering - Hacking Human Firewalls.

Human Hacking

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Provides a comprehensive overview of social engineering techniques, psychology, and defense strategies. It delves into the mindset of a social engineer and offers practical advice on how to protect yourself and your organization. It valuable resource for understanding the intricacies of human manipulation and building a strong security posture. This book adds depth to the course by providing real-world examples and case studies.

Ghost in the Wires

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Provides a first-hand account of a notorious hacker's exploits, highlighting the effectiveness of social engineering in bypassing security measures. It offers valuable insights into the mindset and tactics of attackers. While not a technical manual, it illustrates the power of manipulation and deception. This book is more valuable as additional reading to provide context and real-world examples.

Ghost In The Wires: My Adventures as the World's...

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Cyber Security Social Engineering - Hacking Human Firewalls

What's inside

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Reviews summary

Social engineering: hacking the human element

Activities

Career center

Reading list

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